On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, we heard from one of the foremost experts on William Grant Still – Dr. Rufus Jones, Assistant Professor of Music at Georgetown University and Director of the Georgetown University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.

Ralph de Toledano, in the Winter 1985 issue of Lincoln Review, wrote about the subject of the March 2008 Lincoln Institute Breakfast Forum, the noted black composer William Grant Still.

He told of the occasion, following Still’s death in 1978, when the Library of Congress came to his widow and his daughter hoping to get his papers. The librarian mentioned that he knew and worked with Leonard Bernstein, to which Still’s daughter, Judith Anne, remarked, “The next time you see him, please do me a favor and ask him why he has been so supportive of the Black Panthers, yet refuses to even look at William Grant Still’s scores.”

William Grant Still was one of America’s most renowned composers and was often referred to as the “Dean of American Negro Composers.” Yet because he didn’t share the left’s views on politics and race, he was isolated and ignored by elites like Bernstein.

We enjoyed hearing the compelling story of William Grant Still from Dr. Rufus Jones as he presented "The Life and Times of William Grant Still."

William Grant Still's Bio*

Pictures of the March 2008 Lincoln Institute
Breakfast Forum Featuring Dr. Rufus Jones

Certificate of appreciation presented to Prof. Rufus Jones of Georgetown University after his presentation on composer William Grant Still. L-R Jay Parker, Mayme Holt, friend of WGS's daughter Judith Anne Still, Prof. Jones and Norman H. Bailey, who's father served on a panel that gave WGS a Guggenheim fellowship.	Rufus Jones and Norman Baily talk about the Guggenheim fellowship. The cover of the Winter 1983 Lincoln Review featuring William Grant Still is displayed behind them.	Four members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.attended the William Grant Still program(Still was a charter member of the Delta Chapter(Wilberforce University)of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc.)and talk about this year's AKA centennial celebration activities including their upcoming international convention in Washington, DC this Summer. L-R Janis L. Wiggins, Dolores McIver Parker,Mayme Holt and Satci Johnson.
Dr. Rufus Jones discusses "The Life and Times of William Grant Still."	Kay Coles James tells Rufus Jones about the Gloucester Institute.	Jay greets editor, author and YAF (Young Americans for Freedom) founder Scott Stanley.